Chad Pennington, typically a man of few words, admitted on Thursday that he knew the Jets wanted to get rid of him prior to the 2008 season. Pennington expressed his belief that the decision to release him in favor of Brett Favre was a three-way call by former coach Eric Mangini, GM Mike Tannenbaum, and owner Woody Johnson. "I don't think it was any one person's fault," Pennington said. Pennington said he knew he was being phased out in 2007, when he was benched in favor of the unproven Kellen Clemens. "I asked Coach why they wanted to let me go. He said, 'We feel like Brett gives us the opportunity to push the ball downfield more,'" Pennington said. "I accepted that answer and moved on. I didn't feel like arguing at the time or pleading my case. I felt like my time in New York was over." He added that he isn't bitter towards his former team. "There's never been, 'I told you so,'" Pennington claimed. "I've been on successful teams in New York. People know that, when I'm healthy, I can play this position and my teams have been successful and won playoff games and division titles. The proof was already there. "To me, it boiled down to who Coach Mangini wanted to lead his team. One thing I knew was he didn't want Chad Pennington to lead his team.... Whether that was all Coach Mangini's decision, I doubt it."